Rabies: Almost Certain, Violent Death

March 24, 1985|Sunday Call-Chronicle

Rabies is a violent disease.

Not only do those who contract it face almost certain death; the disease manifests itself in the violent behavior of its victims.

There have been numerous cases of strange animal behavior in Franklin County. A normally nocturnal skunk once attacked a tree during daylight, and raccoons have chased dogs and people. Sometimes the animals appeared docile, but when approached they attacked.

When a 12-year-old Williamsport boy, Ernest Cochran, contracted the disease last year, he exhibited many of the symptoms as the disease attacked his central nervous system. He was restless and his throat hurt. Soon the symptoms intensified. He was unable to eat or drink. He became unruly, combative and salivated excessively, expectorating large amounts of foamy saliva.

Eventually, he did not respond to verbal commands to open his eyes. He developed fluid in his lungs and his heart rhythms were erratic. His nervous reactions deteriorated. He died Sept. 27, 15 days after he first complained of not feeling well.

He was the first person in Pennsylvania to contract rabies since 1952.

The disease is a virus which is generally transmitted through contact with the saliva of a victim. The virus was found in the saliva of the Williamsport boy.

While there is no known cure, it can be prevented through vaccinations. Hundreds of people in Franklin County were vaccinated during 1983 and 1984 as word of the outbreak spread. They were farmers, hunters, trappers, law enforcement officers and health professionals who might come in contact with animals carrying the disease. Clinics were set up in the county for the vaccination of dogs and cats.

People exposed to the disease, or suspected of having been exposed, undergo a series of inoculations that prevent the disease from incubating. Once the symptoms manifest themselves, death is virtually certain.

Rabies has been around a long time. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, rabies first came to the United States in 1753. It is presumed that dogs carried it over on ships from England, which now is considered to be free of rabies.

There have been indications that rabies existed during the earliest days of civilization.

Until the recent outbreak, there was an average of 20 to 25 cases of rabies annually in the past 20 years in Pennsylvania, mostly in bats.